


Boys on a mission

by SilverWield



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Bromance, Bros on a mission, Gen, TWO IDIOTS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26738065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWield/pseuds/SilverWield
Summary: The day before Zack Fair and Cloud Strife are due to climb Mt Nibel, Sephiroth sends them into Nibelheim's waterways to turn on a back up generator.
Relationships: Zack Fair & Cloud Strife
Kudos: 19





	Boys on a mission

Something dripped on him. An icy chill ran down his neck and melted into the fabric of his uniform. “I really hope that was just water,” Zack said, trying not to pull a face. “Hey, Cloud, you sure this is the way to the auxiliary power station?”

Sephiroth sent them to restart an old power station built before the mako reactor. “In case we have to shut the reactor down,” was his reasoning. He'd been conveniently absent by the time Zack was ready to leave with Cloud, who was playing guide down in the underground waterways that snaked beneath the village.

Cloud took off his helmet and nodded. “Yup. We used to play down here sometimes as kids.”

Zack did frown this time. The way Cloud said that made it seem like he wasn't including himself in that “we”. “Didn't think you knew many people in town,” he commented in a light tone, trying to get Cloud to confide.

Cloud's brows drew together and he huffed. “I did grow up here,” he said, sounding like a grumpy kid.

Zack laughed. “Sorry. Maybe if you hadn't stuck that on your head like a weirdo the moment we arrived I wouldn't think that way.”

“Eh.” Cloud shrugged. “I—”

“Hold on a sec.” Zack drew his sword, blunt side angled towards the monsters loitering along the sewer tunnel. “Coming through!” He darted forward, slashed a couple of times and returned the buster sword to its place on his back. He turned and grinned at Cloud. “What were we talking about?”

“Don't recall.”

Zack's eyebrow rose. “Sure you don't.”

Cloud ducked his head and half-turned to point at another path. “Should be this way.” He jogged past Zack at a fair pace.

Zack sighed. “What are we gonna do with you, buddy?” Cloud had bigger avoidance issues than anyone he'd ever met. Not to mention a huge chip on his shoulder about becoming SOLDIER. He suspected it had something to do with the girl who waited at Nibelheim's gates the day before, but he hadn't found time to question his friend about her. _What was her name? Tofu? Tiga? Ah, Tifa!_ He didn't know where she ran off to, but before he and Cloud left that morning she came up asking if he knew a blond SOLDIER. Well, he didn't know a blond SOLDIER, but he did know a blond soldier from Nibelheim. He was staring at his back right this minute. _What'd you think, Aerith? They gotta be the same person. And Cloud's been acting like a stranger to everyone in town. The two connected, you think?_ He sighed and wished she'd call. He'd call her, but she didn't have a phone and borrowed Tseng's to call him before. He didn't want to call Tseng and ask him to pass a message along to his girlfriend to call him back. That would be super embarrassing and he was sure Aerith would scold him for involving the Turks in their personal business.

“Hey, I found the door to the auxiliary power generator.” Cloud pointed towards a dingy corridor and smiled.

Zack hesitated. He didn't like the dark. “Isn't there another way?”

Cloud scoffed. “What, you scared?”

Putting his hands on his hips, Zack puffed his chest out and replied, “Me? No way. Did you forget who I am? First class SOLDIER Zack Fair reporting for duty!” He grinned, then pointed as his jaw dropped. “Hey, you laughing at me?”

Cloud half-turned and said, “Nope.”

“You're a terrible liar.” Passing him, Zack slapped Cloud on the back. “Don't lie to any girls in future, you'll get caught for sure. Come on, let's get this done and get back outside in the fresh air.”

“Sure.” Cloud nodded.

Feeling their way along the corridor, Zack shivered and tried to ignore the oppressive feeling he got being underground. Not much bothered him, but if he had a choice, he wanted to be out under the open sky.

“Door should be close,” Cloud muttered from behind.

“How'd you find this, anyway?” The mako reactor provided power to the entire town, but this generator existed long before that.

“Wandered around,” Cloud replied in a dismissive tone. “I just felt like doing that sometimes.”

“By yourself?”

“Yup.”

Zack shook his head, then frowned. “Didn't you say a bunch of you came down here?”

Cloud hummed, then fell silent.

“And?” Zack asked in a leading voice.

Cloud sighed, then said, “I wasn't really with them. I wanted to get stronger, so...”

“You followed them.” Everything he'd learned about Cloud in the year or so since they met left a lingering impression of someone desperate to fit in, but afraid of rejection. It was weird. Cloud was a bright kid with a dry sense of humour, who went out of his way to help others and blamed himself if he let them down. He had incredible potential to be a great fighter once he got some combat training under his belt, but he struggled with confidence at the worst times and that made him act out in an aggressive display of over compensation. _He could do with a mentor, but who am I to teach him anything? If only Angeal were still around..._

They reached a door and Zack planted his foot against the warped metal and kicked. It swung inward and slammed into the wall, then stuck fast. “Whoops!”

“Don't know your own strength, right?” Cloud passed him and put his helmet on a distressed-looking desk strewn with rotting papers.

“It's a SOLDIER thing. Gotta watch that strength.” Zack pointed at Cloud. “You'll know once you make it in.”

Cloud sighed. “If I can.”

“Just do your best, that's all anyone can ask.” Zack walked over to a console and gave it an experimental tap. “Err...” He scratched his head. “I have no idea what I'm doing.” He laughed. “SOLDIER doesn't exactly teach this stuff.”

Cloud chuckled and shook his head. “That's why you brought me along.”

“Not just for your tech skills,” Zack replied, moving aside so Cloud could work the aging computer. “Having a friend along makes everything better.”

“Hmm.” Cloud input several commands and the system came online. “Still works.”

“Ancient stuff was built to last,” Zack said in an impressed voice.

“Ancient? It's only been around like thirty years.” Cloud rolled his eyes and chuckled when Zack shoved him. “You know, Nibelheim's reactor was the first one ever built?”

“I know. It's showing its age, too.” Zack's grin faded. “You be careful when we're heading up there tomorrow. No telling what kind of dangers are along the way.”

With a serious frown on his face, Cloud nodded. “I know.”

“Great. Now we've got this working we can head back. Mission success!” He gave Cloud a thumbs up and he replied with an okay sign.


End file.
